Project Runway, Here I Come??

As a child and teenager, I played soccer, volleyball, and basketball, did swim team and cheerleading, and danced ballet several times a week. Because of my activities, there was little time (and desire) to learn more domestic sort of things.

And now that I'm a stay-at-home mom I feel sort of...behind. While my cooking skills have improved dramatically, my laundry, cleaning, sewing, and decorating skills are almost non-existent. Ask me where all the matches to our socks are? I couldn't tell ya. Ask me how to hem up a pair of pants for my son? I'd have to Google it.

Truth be told, I wish I'd paid more attention to those things when I was living at home with my mother. 

Anyway, for the last year I've been inspired by other moms in the blogosphere. There are bazillions of mothers who are creating things and posting tutorials on how to copy them. I'm particularly inspired by the "upcycling" and "refashioning" of clothes and other household things. What does that mean? It means taking a stained up shirt and adding an applique to cover the stain. It means taking an old, printed cosmetic bag and turning it into a cute headband. I love this because we live on a budget that doesn't often allow for me to go out and purchase new clothes and home decor.

    

So, after 8-months of waiting, and with money from my mother and mother-in-law, I went out and purchased this fine piece of machinery:

 She's a beauty, ain't she?

And, since the last time I sewed was in 2nd grade when a dear family friend from church gave me a few "sewing lessons," it's been taking a bit of practice. 

My first project came from a bleached up t-shirt and pillow case:

 Don't snicker. I had to start somewhere.

What else do I have planned? I have high hopes for these trousers which I intend to turn into a dapper little vest for Eli and coordinating bow tie for Noah. 

But first on the agenda? Eli has requested a "black shiny superhero cape with a big E and lightning bolt on the back." Stay tuned...